Tag Archives: Appomattox Courthouse

When we got back to camp, some of us were ready to start for home. We had a long trek ahead of us. We would have to go down through Virginia to the east end of Tennessee climb through the … Continue reading →

We got up the next morning and had a roll call. All 18 of us were there. No one had slipped away and headed home. It had been raining during the night and it was chilly. We all got our … Continue reading →

We got word that night there was going to be a formal surrender tomorrow in the village of Appomattox. We were going to stack arms, furl our flags and leave them there in Appomattox. It was hard for some of … Continue reading →

Lordy, it was just wonderful being able to lay down and sleep 4 or 5 hours without having to worry about fighting a rear guard action when you got up. We rested the rest of the morning and ate the … Continue reading →

Five of us were selected for a canteen detail, Jones Amason, Oliver Jester, Kasper Schmit (Smitty), Henry King and me. We gathered all the canteens and started to walk toward the creek. About 50 yards from the creek a squad … Continue reading →

The Billy Yanks that brought us the food were from Illinois and Pennsylvania. We talked about each other’s families, farms, towns and states. We didn’t mention the war or anything to do with fighting. We just talked about what we … Continue reading →

We trudged back to camp. Some of us stacked arms. Nobody felt like talking. We just sat around and looked off in space. The officers got us to set up camp to await the paroling that we were supposed to … Continue reading →

The Yanks began firing and we were getting ready for the whirlwind, when their fire slackened and stopped. Toward the end of the day some of our teamsters returned from the front said General Lee had surrendered. We couldn’t believe … Continue reading →

Our Brigade, the Texas Brigade, was made up of the 1st, 4th and 5th Texas and the 3rd Arkansas. Marse Robert surrendered us to the Yanks today. I guess it was a good thing. We had been at the rear … Continue reading →